In memory of our brother and son, Robert Bagnell,
who died moments after being tasered by police in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23, 2004. Bob was the 7th Canadian to die and the 110th in North America.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

HALIFAX, N.S. — A Halifax police officer didn't tell colleagues that a man who had just been arrested was schizophrenic, had been off his medications for weeks and had been acting violently, a fatality inquiry heard Tuesday.

Const. Giles Gillis, who was responding to a domestic assault call, testified at the hearing into the death of Howard Hyde that the man's common-law spouse told him he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had assaulted her.

He was also informed that Hyde, a 45-year-old musician with a 20-year history of mental illness, had stopped taking three types of anti-anxiety and psychosis medications and was delusional.

Still, Gillis admitted not conveying the critical information to other police officers who took Hyde to a lockup in Halifax on Nov. 21, 2007, where he was repeatedly Tasered after struggling in the cells.

"Why didn't you radio the police station after getting the statement?" MacRury asked at another point in the testimony.

"Were you not bothered by the fact that you knew he was schizophrenic and off his medications and he had been Tasered?"

Gillis said he believed he was following proper procedure and that Hyde was in the most appropriate place since a judge would decide later in the day if he should undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The probe is trying to determine what happened to Hyde after he was arrested and then died in a correctional facility 30 hours after being Tasered. It will determine whether Hyde received adequate care from police, correctional officers and health officials.

Karen Ellet, Hyde's spouse and the hearing's first witness, testified that she told officers her violent, incoherent husband was mentally ill and needed medical help the night he hit her with a telephone.

But the Nova Scotia woman said he did not get the help he so badly needed.

The soft-spoken woman said she called a help line for those facing mental health emergencies when Hyde became very aggressive, at one point holding her wrists and striking her on the side of her face with a telephone.

"I realized he needed some medical help," she told the inquiry in a quiet but steady voice. "He was pacing back and forth and hollering. He was incoherent. ... I couldn't make out what he was saying."

The court heard a recording of the 911 call Ellet made later that night, during which she told the operator in a hushed tone that Hyde was "going to become violent."

When police arrived at the couple's home in Dartmouth, Hyde had fled their apartment by climbing over the balcony and down the side of the four-storey building. It was a cold night and he was dressed only in a pair of shorts and had no shoes.

Ellet told the officers that Hyde was terrified of being Tasered because he had been hit with an electric jolt from a stun gun during an earlier confrontation with police.

She said she later learned that Hyde had been arrested, but when she called the correctional centre to let them know he was ill, she was told staff couldn't help because of concerns over confidentiality.

"I really wanted him to be in the hospital and get the proper medical treatment that he needed for his psychosis."

Gillis also said he did a background check on Hyde when he returned to his office, but could find nothing on the man despite a lengthy history that included 11 criminal charges and several involving mental health issues.

Gillis, who claimed to have trouble recalling several details from the incident, also said he couldn't remember whether Hyde was warned before he was struck with the powerful stun gun.

MacRury questioned why Gillis didn't have him sent to a hospital for an immediate psychiatric evaluation rather than into police custody.

Gillis said he didn't think Hyde was exhibiting signs of mental illness, even though he was babbling incoherently when he was apprehended.

After being Tasered twice and rendered unconscious, Hyde was revived by CPR and taken to hospital. Later that morning, he was taken to the Dartmouth jail, where he spent the night.

The next morning, he fell unconscious again after struggling with correctional officers trying to restrain him in a holding cell. He was declared dead in hospital at 8:42 a.m.

During her testimony, Ellet also confirmed that Hyde had hit her on the head with closed fists only two weeks earlier when he became irate in a nearby parking lot about her refusal to get a ride home by hitchhiking. She said she did tell police about the incident.

As well, Ellet said she had earlier approached Hyde's doctor about his worsening condition, but could only talk to the physician's secretary. Nothing came of that meeting, she said.

When Hyde was taking his medication, he was a warm man with a passion for music and sports, Ellet said.

"He was a very fantastic person," she said. "He was very caring of people. ... He was just an incredible man."

The provincial medical examiner concluded Hyde died of excited delirium due to paranoid schizophrenia.

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taser-Related Deaths = 1007+ in North America

See "A LIST OF THE DEAD"According to Taser International, the taser had nothing to do with any of these deaths. According to Amnesty International, the taser has been identified as either a cause or contributing factor in at least 60 of them. That number would be higher; however medical examiners and coroners are often not impartial but are instead biased in favour of the Crown or, as has been shown, they are under tremendous pressure from - among others - Taser International, to make a particular finding.See Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions

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Taser International finally admits risk that their weapons may affect the human heart

RCMP - TASERS POTENTIALLY LETHAL

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My Brother - Robert Bagnell June 27, 1959 - June 23, 2004

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2) Until such time as independent and unbiased study into the "real world" safety implications of Tasers has been properly completed, a moratorium must be imposed upon these weapons.

3) If, after independent and unbiased study has been completed, the Taser is going to remain in the police arsenal, it must be placed at a level equal to lethal force on the continuum of force and used only as a second-to-last resort.

4) Safety standards must be developed for Tasers. There are currently no Canadian safety standards in place for this weapon.

5) Police must not be allowed to investigate themselves but must be subject to independent and unbiased civilian oversight.

6) Families of people who die in police custody in Canada must be provided with funding so that they may be properly represented by legal counsel.

07. Robert Bagnell, 44 – Vancouver, BC - June 23, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Consistent with restraint-associated cardiac arrest due to acute cocaine intoxication and psychosis. Bob's autopsy report showed marks on his body consistent to multiple taser shots, which incidently could not be affirmed by the pathologist because she could not explain those marks.

09. Samuel Truscott, 43 – Kingston, ON - August 8, 2004 - X26 - "Official" cause of death: Heart attack cause by drug overdose and "I can state categorically that the Taser did not play any role whatsoever in his death" said Chief Coroner for Ontario, Jim Cairns

24. Michael Langan, 17, Winnipeg, MB - July 22, 2008 - tasered 1 time - the autopsy report says Langan's death was caused by a heart arrhythmia brought on by the Taser shocks

25. Sean Reilly, 42 - Brampton, ON - September 17, 2008 - Peel Regional Police - X26 - tasered 2 times - the inquest jury will determine the official cause of death, however, “the forensic evidence indicated that the force used by the officers, including the Taser discharge, did not contribute to his death"

27. Trevor Grimolfson, 38 - Edmonton, AB - October 29, 2008, X26 - According to sources, after he was pepper sprayed, Trevor was tasered directly on the chest 5 times and tasered on the back of the neck 2 more times - Edmonton police said he was only tasered 2 times but testing on the tasers proves otherwise - "Official" cause of death: excited delirium brought on by drugs

29. Grant William Prentice, 40 - Brooks, AB - May 6, 2009 - RCMP - tasered 2 times - "Official" cause of death: acute cocaine toxicity and "the medical examiner also concluded the taser did not play a role in the death"

Ain't it the truth!

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80% percent of the population could be moved in either direction

Human rights activist Susan Sontag, when asked what she had learned from the Holocaust, said that 10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and that 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and that the remaining 80 percent could be moved in either direction.

THE Successes AREN'T the Problem

"The issue is not whether or not the taser can be used in a high percentage of cases to reduce death and/or physical trauma to officers and civilians alike. The issue is whether or not it's OK to kill the rest through ignorance and rationalization just because it's a small percentage ... The successes aren't the problem - the failures are. They're being told that tasers are nonlethal, so they blast away until people can't move. They're killing people by accident." Dave Siegler, father of Raymond Siegler, who died on February 12, 2004

The artistic side of Robert Bagnell

WE KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE

ROBERT ANGLEN

Robert Anglen, a reporter with The Arizona Republic, documented the first 167 Taser-related deaths. Mr. Anglen launched a journalistic investigation of Taser International, linking the Taser to multiple deaths, among other eye-openers.

At the 2005 Arizona Press Club Awards, Mr. Anglen won first place in the Investigative reporting category. He was the recipient of the Don Bolles Award for his report entitled "Taser tied to 'independent' study that backs stun gun'. “As part of an extraordinarily thorough investigation of Taser International, Anglen uncovered ‘smoking gun’ documents that showed the manufacturer was heavily involved in the key study that purported the devices are safe. Anglen also uncovered conflicts of interest and documented wide-spread problems with Taser safety — a matter of national and international public interest.”

In 2006, Mr. Anglen was a runner up for the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award. Peter Bhatia of The Oregonian wrote “Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter, pure and simple. Clearly, he is a reporter who, once he sinks his teeth into something, stays with it until the story is done. His ongoing work around the company that makes Tasers speaks to that."